


A Foolish Thing

by junko



Series: the distance between us [19]
Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-04
Updated: 2012-06-04
Packaged: 2017-11-06 20:11:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/422736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/pseuds/junko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Cherry Blossom Festival is over, and so, it seems, is the romance.  Now Renji has to figure out how to work with Byakuya despite his broken heart.  Luckily, Matsumoto is right there, ready to pick up the peices.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Foolish Thing

_“What if I told you I love you?”_

_“Why would you do such a foolish thing?”_

 

Renji successfully avoided Byakuya all night. He joined the bustle of servants outside the guest quarters after the sun came up, brushing the cherry blossoms from the seat of his hakama. It’d been a while since he’d slept in the rough, tucked into the crook of a tree branch. His back hurt. Though that could just as easily have been from fucking Byakuya up against the sentō wall last night, but he didn’t want to think about that. Nor did he want to consider the way his heart ached—no, his whole chest felt heavy and sore from the pressure of unshed tears.

Spotting Aio, the little kitchen servant, Renji tapped her on the shoulder. She nearly dropped the tea set she’d been packing into straw. “Oh, Lieutenant Abarai, you look a fright!” Her hand flew up to cover her rudeness, though Renji was sure it was true. She gave him a deep, apologetic bow, and continued, “I’m terribly sorry. What can I do for you?”

“I need something to _do_ , something that will keep me busy until it’s time to go.”

“But… shouldn’t you be with his lordship?”

Renji couldn’t help a rueful little laugh, and, “Yeah, you know, that’s what I thought, too, but… well, here I am.”

#

 

He was in the street, loading up the caravan, when Byakuya’s voice, cold and sharp as steel, stopped him. “Renji, what are you doing?”

Renji finished handing up the trunk to the guys he’d been helping, and turned around.

If Byakuya slept as badly as he had, Renji couldn’t tell. The captain’s shihakushô looked pressed and crisp as always, and the kenseikan kept his hair perfectly in place, not a single inky strand askew.

Renji, meanwhile, had worked up a sweat, “Packing, sir. We leave five hours,”

“I’m well aware of our schedule,” Byakuya said. His voice was calm, though clearly irritated. His gaze seemed focused on something down the road. “But I’m uncertain at what point you stopped being my adjutant and became my retainer.”

Renji had to swallow a bitter, _‘what, you expected everything to remain the same after last night?’_ Instead, he supposed he should be grateful that he was still ‘his’ anything and it seemed as though Renji still had his job for now. So, he gritted his teeth and said, “I’m sorry, sir. You need me for something?”

“It seems I must remind you of your duty, lieutenant. You are to attend me this weekend. We are expected to make the final rounds together.”

“What? You seriously can’t do that alone?” The words came out before Renji could hold them back.

The increase in reistsu was as sudden as it was intense. One of the servants in the cart behind Renji stumbled, dropping to his knees with a little squeak.

Byakuya stepped forward and Renji instinctively retreated, his back suddenly pressing against the wooden railing of the cart. Byakuya’s hand rose and Renji flinched expecting a slap or a blow.

But instead the captain snatched something from Renji’s hair. He held it between them, and Renji could see that it was a cluster of three cherry blossoms, one still unopened, attached to a small twig. The captain’s gaze rose to meet his and Renji could feel the storm roiling behind gray eyes with the same force of reistsu that still hammered down on him.

“In truth,” Byakuya said coolly, “I would prefer an escort who took better care of his appearance. However, since time is short, you’ll have to do something about this hair of yours, Fukataicho.”

Byakuya turned away, retracting the sudden wave of reistsu as he dropped the cherry blossoms to the dusty ground. From the pile of trunks and boxes, Byakuya picked up a dirty piece of twine. Without looking back, he flung the string at Renji.

Renji caught it automatically.

“Tie it back,” Byakuya snapped.

 

#

It was surprisingly cruel, Byakuya’s order to bind up his hair. Though not a single noble said a word, Renji could feel the way eyes followed him, horrified and deeply disapproving of his tattoos. Never in his life had he been made to feel this ashamed of his ink, but here, dutifully following behind Byakuya, he felt as filthy as the discarded piece of cord that held his hair back.

But he’d be damned if he’d let anyone see his humiliation. So Renji held his shoulders square and kept his eyes focused on Byakuya’s back—on the bit of the kanji six seal visible underneath the coil of the silver-white wildflower silk scarf.

As his gaze bore mental holes into Byakuya, Renji found it almost impossible to believe that only hours ago he’d told this man he loved him.

He must have been out of his fucking mind.

 

#

Of course, just as they set out to return to the Division, it started to rain. Not just a light drizzle either, but torrential downpour that had Renji and the rest of the honor guard helping shoulder the palanquin to keep them from sliding off the road.

He was exhausted and drenched when they finally made it to the doors of the Kuchiki estate. Never had he been more grateful to see the butler and valet scurry out with an umbrella to take over caring for the palanquin and its occupant. However, he made sure the mud-spattered and barely-upright honor guard stood at attention when the door opened.

Once Byakuya swept past them into the mansion to the comforts of tea and warm fire, Renji dismissed the guard for the day. He made sure to tell the house steward how well her staff had performed throughout the festival, and was pleased to hear her release those that had worked all weekend and replace them with a fresh detail.

The Third Seat, likewise, seemed startled to see him dripping at the threshold. “Lieutenant?”

“At ease,” Renji said, as the young man jumped up. “Listen, I hate to do this to you, but I need a couple hours’ kip. Can you hold down the fort a little while longer?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Great. And, you’d better send someone to fetch me or I’ll sleep the day away.”

 

#

He didn’t even remember stripping out of his wet uniform or crawling into bed, but he’d never forget the sight that greeted him when his eyes opened.

“Renji! Wake up!”

It was Rangiku Matsumoto. She was perched on the end of his cot, smiling at him. He sat up, startled to see her there, and then suddenly remembered he was completely naked. Grasping at the covers around his waist, he said, “What are you doing here? These are my private quarters!”

“Your Third Seat said it was time to wake you, so I said I’d do it.”

Still sleepy, Renji said, “Um, yeah, but… _why_ are you here?”

“Oh, yes, thing is, I need to ask a huge favor of you.” She blinked at him innocently, but he could see how her eyes trailed over his shoulders and chest. When she realized she’d been caught staring, she giggled a little, “Oh and Gin is right. Your tattoos are gorgeous.”

After this morning, it was weirdly gratifying to hear her say so. “Thanks.”

She leaned a little closer, putting her hands on the bed and her gigantic breasts on full display. Then, she actually batted her eyelashes at him. “What are you doing tonight?”

Well, he sure as hell wasn’t sleeping with the captain, “Nothing. Why?”

“There’s a party, a surprise birthday party for Isane Kotetsu, and I need your help organizing it.”

It took him a minute, but he finally placed the name. “Kotetsu? She’s the Fourth Division’s lieutenant, right? Tall… with the white hair and the little braids on one side?”

“Yes, the poor thing, I don’t think she thinks she has a lot of friends, so I want to make sure everyone’s there,” Matsumoto sighed. Then, as if deciding something, she stood up suddenly. Adjusting her uniform in a way that made it impossible for Renji not to stare like an idiot, she said cheerfully, “So, good, okay, I’ll pick you up after dinner around eight!”

“Pick me up?” For crying out loud, which of them was the guy?

“Yes,” she said from the door. “So make yourself pretty!” After stopping to admire him one last time, she shook her head sadly, sending the wave of red-gold hair bouncing, “Too bad it isn’t a toga party. You’d rock a sheet.”

 

#

The rain had dried by the time Renji was dressed. The practice yard was slick with patches of mud and the sky was still gray and overcast. The storm had left behind a distinct chill in the air. So he was happy to see that when he walked into Division Headquarters, the Third Seat had hot tea waiting for him.

“Anything exciting happen while we were away?” he asked, leaning against the window ledge, flipping through meticulously kept reports as he sipped the tea. “Did the Eleventh try it on?”

“No, sir. Though I’m beginning to suspect someone from theirs is running off with carp from the estate.”

“The estate? Whatever, that’s his problem,” Renji said, setting the tea bowl down on the sill. His eyes paused on a list of names. “Only five drunken disorderlies. Not bad.”

“‘Not bad’?” The Third Seat sounded scandalized. “Sir, this was the worst weekend in Division history. I’m only just finishing the paperwork for their extended confinement and pay forfeiture.”

“What? Give me those.” Renji got up and took the papers the Third Seat offered, looking over the forms. “Seriously? These guys are supposed to be locked up for six months and take a two-thirds pay cut that entire time?”

“Those _are_ the regulations, sir.”

Renji frowned, “Half a goddamn year? For getting wasted and acting stupid in public?”

“Yes,” the Third Seat said primly. He stood up and started over to a bookcase containing several bound volumes. “Do you need me to find you the punitive article? I believe it’s one hundred thirty-six.”

“No, I don’t need to see the fucking regulations to know this is the most ridiculous waste of manpower ever,” Renji crumpled up the forms. Then, he looked at the wads of paper in his hand for a moment. “The captain hasn’t seen these yet, has he?”

“No… but, sir!” The Third Seat grabbed Renji’s sleeve as he started out the door. “What are you planning to do?”

Renji brushed him off. “Oi, don’t sound so panicked. I’m only breaking a couple of guys out of the guardhouse, not starting Armageddon.”

“You might as well be,” The Third Seat breathed nervously. “If the captain finds out about this, he’ll freak out. I mean, _really_ freak out.”

Renji was so ready for a knock down fight with Byakuya that an evil, toothy grin pulled at his lips. “Let him.”

 

#

The guards seemed shocked to see someone from the Sixth, too, but they recognized Renji’s authority and let him through. Thanks to the holiday, the drunk tank was particularly crowded. He recognized a couple of old comrades from the Eleventh, snoring happily in the corner. _Losers_ , Renji thought. Zaraki would let them rot for getting caught, though they’d probably see it as a vacation.

All of the people from his squad, however, looked completely depressed; one woman was staring at the wall silently weeping. “Shit, this is pathetic,” Renji said, shaking his head. “Sixth, on your feet!”

In a stunned sort of daze, the five soldiers on Renji’s list stood up.

“All right,” Renji told the guard, handing over the names. “I’m letting that lot out on a warning. Come on, you idiots, fall in.”

 

#

Just outside the Division doors one of the braver souls tentatively asked, “Are you really letting us off, lieutenant?”

“I am, because I can’t imagine anything more stupid than losing five decent soldiers for half the year. But don’t be getting any ideas that I’m some kind of softie, because I’m still docking your pay. And, if any of you get caught doing anything like this ever again, I will personally kick your ass and send you off for an extended tour of duty with the toilet brigade of the Fourth Division, you understand me?”

He received a very enthusiastic chorus of, “Yes, sir!”

“And for fuck sake, if you’re going to get publicly drunk again don’t do it anywhere near the division barracks. Find a nice quite tavern outside of the Seireitei, and, for crying out loud, use some _skills_ sneaking back in. I can’t believe any of  my people got caught. What do you imagine is going on in the practice yard every day? You think all that’s just for show? I’m trying to teach you something important! Something you can _use_. Something that should be automatic. If you can’t rely on your techniques when you’re drunk and dodging patrols, you sure as shit aren’t going to remember them in the battlefield.”

Renji was glad to see a few of the faces sober at that. They’d reached the barracks and he held open the door. “Now get in. Report your sorry asses for KP duty pronto, got it?”

“Sir!”

He was still shaking his head, muttering to himself, when he felt eyes on him. He didn’t need to look up to know that Byakuya was there, in his usual spot on the double loggia. No doubt the captain had heard his whole lecture.

“I know you don’t approve,” Renji pitched his voice so Byakuya could hear him, though he didn’t bother looking up. “But consider what kind of soldier is coming back after six months in the hole--one who spent every day growing bitter, learning to curse your name--you really think that solider is going to end up more disciplined, more loyal, ready to lay down their life at your command?”

Renji waited, but there was no response, though he could still feel the captain’s presence bearing down on him.

“You need to give just a little bit, Taicho, to get something back.”

After a moment, Byakuya said, “Are you speaking of the Division or something more?”

Renji looked up, meeting Byakuya’s icy gaze. “Both.”

They held each other’s eyes for several seconds. Renji held his breath, as always, foolishly hoping for something he suspected he’d never get. He was too far away to tell from the captain’s expression if he’d made any kind of hit, punctured through any walls or defenses. At this distance, Renji could only read blankness in that regal face.

Predictably, Byakuya turned and walked away without a word.


End file.
